Do You Have An Egocentric Personality?

An egocentric personality is usually associated with arrogance, ambition and, in some cases, exhibitionism. People with this type of personality tend to believe that they are the most important person in the room and that all eyes should be on them at all times.

People who could not care less about the opinions of others and only focus on their own, are egocentric. When we say that someone is self-absorbed, we mean that they only see the world from their own point of view. In other words, they lack the ability to feel empathy with others and do not care about the consequences of their actions.

The development of an egocentric personality

During the first years of our lives, we are all self-absorbed because we have not yet developed the ability to judge others. However, as we mature and our cognitive skills develop, those around us begin to become more visible to us. Thus we begin to see others as individual beings.

The Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget studied egocentrism as part of the child’s development. He observed that young children seem cognitively unable to assimilate another person’s perspective. For example, when playing hide and seek, they tend to cover their eyes, thinking that the other person cannot find them if they cannot see themselves.

During adolescence, the egocentric personality becomes clearer, especially when it comes to teens’ relationships with their peers. Young people think they are more special and much more important than others. Teenagers consider themselves the only interesting people in the world. In addition, they feel misunderstood because they believe that others, mainly adults, have never felt what they are doing.

When we reach maturity, that feeling of exclusivity disappears as we learn to understand that there are different points of view and perspectives. However, there are some people this does not happen to, which results in them developing an egocentric personality. In psychology, this is considered a cognitive bias, which refers to a distortion in the processing of information that leads to a misinterpretation of what is really going on.

Five traits that define an egocentric personality

Now that we know what egocentrism is, and that we have all experienced it in childhood and adolescence, we now explain the main characteristics of an egocentric personality.

Lack of empathy

Lack of empathy is the inability or difficulty of putting oneself aside in order to understand or feel what another person is experiencing.

An unsympathetic person lives immersed in his reality and ignores other people’s struggles, problems, feelings or thoughts. They want to look after their own best in a selfish and unobtrusive way. They turn a blind eye to their surroundings and truly believe that everyone else should act, feel and think like them.

Unattainable goals

Self-centered people focus on their unstoppable pursuit of success, power, love and wealth with the goal of standing out. As a consequence, their struggle to achieve unrealistic goals often leads to frustration.

In many cases, this will lead to severe distress and anxiety that will negatively affect their self-esteem. In addition, their unattainable goals will directly affect future enthusiasm when it comes to assessing new goals.

Lack of self-confidence

Those with an egocentric personality wear a mask of self-confidence in front of others. This disguise actually hides their deep sense of insecurity, low self-esteem and fear. They tend to convey this false trust so that others believe that everything they say is true. Egocentric people want others to validate their opinions at all times.

According to psychoanalyst Erich Fromm, egocentrism is a defense mechanism. In other words, it is an unconscious psychological strategy that people use to avoid facing reality and to maintain their own self-image.

Exhibitionism

An egocentric personality also manifests itself in certain attitudes such as openness to be flattered and admired by others. This is usually seen through the individual’s excessive desire for others to shower them with compliments. They actually use this strategy to prolong the attention they get. Let us not forget that people with this type of personality are willing to do whatever it takes to be praised.

On the other hand, egocentric individuals want to control everyone else’s ideas, actions, and behaviors. And not only that, but they will be admired for doing so.

Egocentric personality: Emotional manipulation or blackmail

Self-centered people use emotional blackmail and continuous manipulation to compensate for their feelings of insecurity. They only care about others when they get something back.

Although egocentrism can affect relationships, it is to identify the first step to dealing with it and take positive steps to change it.